They Are The Wind Beneath Her Wings
by Manchester
Summary: Even for the Scoobies, life doesn’t always consist of just facing down Big Bads and researching the next apocalypse, so here's a simple story about a fall day set in phouka’s “Haven and Home” universe, and used with the permission of that author.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Another tale set in phouka's 'Haven and Home' world.. All characters and settings created by phouka are the property of that author. Many thanks to phouka for permission to use her world.

* * *

It had been a good day.

That Saturday in early October had dawned clear and crisp, with the air temperature forecasted to only rise a little during the next few hours. However, since it was calm, without even the slightest breeze, as long as people dressed warmly, remained in the fall sunlight, and kept moving, it would probably stay comfortable enough for those venturing outside this morning. Which included the entire house.

Knowing they would soon be forced by the Cleveland climate to remain indoors, all of those who lived in the dryad's house appreciated every second of the good fall weather and they were each determined to take full advantage of every bit of sunshine today. After devouring an enormous breakfast prepared by Andrew, Buffy led the exodus outside, followed by her Slayers carrying the exercise mats from the gym, which were placed on the front lawn. Under the blonde's stern eye, her warrior sisters started their stretches and warm-up katas. To the side, the normal (mostly) humans did their own exercises and tai chi routines, led by Jenny, as Giles, Xander, Willow, Dawn, and Andrew followed along.

Soon, people were ready to get down to serious business. Pairing up, the Slayers began their sparring matches against each other, while Buffy and Giles walked along the mats, narrowly watching every move of the practicing contenders. After literally years at this, Giles had the expertise to observe even the fastest strikes and blows by the combatants, and spot any potential flaws and whatever else that needed correction. Buffy, as the last true Slayer, could simply glance at any lesser Slayer and just know what that novice was doing wrong. Working together, the pair of Sunnydale survivors moved among the opponents, often stopping the matches with a single soft word, to correct mistakes and suggest better attack and defensive maneuvers. Buffy would often demonstrate, as the fighters avidly watched, first in slow motion, and then faster, culminating at full Slayer speed, until she was sure they now understood what to do.

Again at the side, two pairs did their own light-contact martial arts training, switching off among each other as Jenny, Dawn, Andrew, Willow, and Xander practiced falls, exchanged pulled strikes and blows that were not meant to actually land, and applied careful holds and grips against their opponents' weak points, such as knees and elbows to restrain them. Since nobody was wearing protective gear, only the less aggressive martial arts styles such as aikido were performed with full contact, and everything else was done on the honor 'touch' system.

Everyone there worked hard, knowing that their lives were dangerous enough that it wasn't a good idea to slack off in being able to protect themselves, even if their attitudes over having to actually use their training in a fight ranged from Xander's mood of cold murder against anybody daring to hurt his girls to Andrew's glum acceptance and fervent prayer that it'd never happen again (Sunnydale had been more than enough for him, thank you). Jenny, Willow, and Dawn were more businesslike, though their intentness in combat was shown often enough by the women slamming the men hard onto their backs on the exercise mats.

"Hey!" yelped Andrew after gasping in pain after one such fall, glowering up at Dawn standing triumphantly over him. The brunette man grumbled, "If you keep doing that, I'm not gonna make you cookies anymore!"

Their own match finished, Jenny, Willow, and a smirking Xander came over, as he held out a hand to Andrew to grab and scramble to his feet, with that former member of a trio of would-be supervillains still glaring at an unrepentant Dawn. The Summers sister just bestowed upon Andrew her most pitiful look, and with a quivering lower lip, whimpered, "But I might not have such a big, strong man like you around when a poor widdle girl like me gets in trouble, so I need to do whatever it takes to look after myself! Awww, do you want me to kiss where it hurts and make it all better?" At those last words, Dawn developed a wicked gleam in her eye and advanced upon Andrew, puckering up her lips for a passionate smooch.

Hastily backpedaling, Andrew shot a panicky glance over where Buffy had been standing off in the distance with her back to the others as she watched her Slayers, and a look of horror developed on his face as he saw that small woman suddenly stiffen as if she'd just heard something that would possibly lead to Andrew-carnage in the near future. Blurting out "NO!" Andrew quickly got behind a snickering Xander, and warily peering around that man's body at the three women who now all had evil grins on their faces, the cook of the house sniffed, "You're just a big bully, you know that?"

"Damn straight," contently said Dawn, exchanging high-fives with Jenny and Willow. Then, her attention caught by something else, Dawn suggested, "Let's go over there." The small group promptly agreed, and headed towards the main group of Slayers, with Andrew trailing behind and prudently still keeping Xander between himself and the female trio.

As they came up to stand by Giles, the Englishman simply nodded in acknowledgement of their presence, with his main attention keenly directed at where Buffy was standing in the middle of an exercise mat, with all of the other Slayers lined up in a row before her on the lawn. The first of these now stepped forward to join the other woman, and in the next instant, with no further courtesies, two superhuman females blurred together in close combat.

For the next minute, among the savage blows, incredible leaps, sweeping kicks, and unbelievable moves during the battle, came the casual drawl of the California native calmly assessing her opponent's style and methods, giving advice in the middle of the fight, with whatever compliments and censure that were necessary. Suddenly, Buffy was back in the middle of the exercise mat, crouching over her challenger's body that was face down on that piece of padded material, her left hand gripping the other girl's wrists in an unbreakable hold, and doing the same with her right hand around the ankles, with the victorious Slayer's left foot pressed firmly down on the back of the defeated girl's neck.

"Better," grunted Buffy, only then letting go, as the other girl got to her feet and stood there, an accepting look on the loser's face as she bowed to her sensei. Buffy bowed back, and then waved her off to the edge of the mat, instructing, "Watch carefully. Someone's going to try a variation of your moves, so see if they'll do better or worse." Buffy then looked at the next baby Slayer in line, and commanded, "Next!"

One after the other, all of those who dared to hope to someday call themselves true Slayers now faced Buffy Summers.

When it was all finished, a slightly tired but very cheerful woman nodded at her students, and complimented them all, "Good work, guys. You're coming along. Okay, exercise's over. Anybody not having a job or wanting to help them is now on free time the rest of the day. Go on, beat it."


	2. Chapter 2

A happy cheer erupted from the mob of girls, who then scattered in various directions. Some of the Slayers started picking up and stacking the exercise mats in preparation of returning them to the gym, while a pair of girls joined up with Andrew heading back into the house. Those two teenagers started chattering with the man as they started planning today's shopping trip to the grocery store, going over what to buy for the house -- food, household items, and anything else necessary -- for the coming week. These young women were eager to gain experience that would help them in someday becoming heads of Slayer houses elsewhere in the world.

Only the above people went into the house. It was just too good a day to spend time indoors, even if that meant passing up a trip to the local mall, so most of the household stayed outside, performing various activities. A group of Slayers headed to the enormous obstacle course built by Xander behind the house, happily running, tumbling, climbing, swinging, and crawling under, over, and through the massive wood and metal structures the former construction worker had erected to stretch the bodies of superhuman girls while allowing them to have a truly fun time.

Another Slayer group pulled out several bicycles from a shed, about to use these for a ride around the neighborhood, and mounted up, leaving through the estate's driveway. Passing by on her relaxed cool-down run around the perimeter of the estate, Buffy saw this, and yelled after the departing group, "Knock off the racing against cars! We're supposed to be inconspicuous, you know, and getting speeding tickets for bikes going faster than the forty-mile hour limits on the roads doesn't exactly do that!" The departing girls just cheerfully waved behind themselves at their teacher, and went off to do exactly what they wanted in freaking out the local drivers, as Buffy lifted up her eyes in exasperation and continued her jog.

Under the direction of Dawn and Willow, more Slayers worked in the numerous gardens and orchards, harvesting the last of the herbs, vegetables, and fruits before the end of the fall season and the beginning of winter, when the land would rest. Humming, Willow moved among her own special garden containing herbs used in spells, ceremonies, potions, and concoctions, followed by several Slayers who'd become interested in magical gardening. Explaining to her disciples the proper methods of gathering these herbs (some needed to be picked at specific days or times, such as precisely midnight), Willow knelt on the ground, and still chattering, plunged her hands into the soil. Even though they'd seen it before, the accompanying girls still watched in fascination as Willow's auburn hair now moved on its own in the windless garden, with strands beginning to shine and gleam in tiny twinkles of red sparks.

Munching on a late apple, Dawn wandered by, and mumbled through her mouthful of fruit, "Wils, you're glowing again."

"Mmm-mm," murmured the witch, as she blissfully felt the earth power move up through her body.

"Yeah, well, we could use a few more apple trees, so if you don't mind….?" Trailing off as she dug with a fingernail, Dawn coxed out a few seeds from her apple core, as Willow absently pulled out her right hand out of the ground and held it out, dirty palm upwards. Making sure not to come directly into contact with Willow (the last thing Dawn wanted was for her hair to have grown another eight inches when she woke up in her bed tomorrow morning), the younger Summers sister dropped these apple seeds into the witch's hand.

Closing her eyes, Willow folded her fingers over the seeds. A moment later, that young woman had the hair of her entire head shimmer in scarlet radiance, with Willow's face tranquil as this occurred. Right after that, the luminosity of her locks faded to the Wicca's normal hair shade, and Willow opened her eyes again, holding out her fist. Dawn put her own flat palm under the other's hand, catching the seeds her friend dropped onto there. "Thanks, Wils. We'll put them in the special section."

Blinking, and then rising to her feet, Willow nodded to Dawn, and as the Key moved off, she heard the witch call after, "They'll be perfect for pies, Dawnie!" Smiling after her friend, Willow turned back to the Slayers, and ignoring the awed looks on their faces, she directed their attention to another herb, lecturing, "Now, this one needs to be cut only with a silver blade…."


	3. Chapter 3

Elsewhere on the estate, Xander had drafted the rest of the Slayers in preparing the grounds for winter. They didn't mind all that much, since what he'd told them to do was really fun. Scrambling like squirrels into the massive trees that had their foliage turning into magnificent shades of orange and gold, the girls carrying along axes and saws checked for any dead limbs and branches. Once these were found, the Slayers' tools quickly and carefully lopped these off, to be dropped onto the ground below, where other waiting Slayers yelled upwards to make damn sure those in the trees had finished all their work. Only then did those chosen to collect the timber advance to pick this up and carry it off to where a young man was ready.

In the middle of a small, bare clearing, Xander directed the laden Slayers to drop off their loads of wood into a shallow pit a dozen feet wide carved into the ground. Encircled by a brick walkway twice the width of the pit, the one-eyed man watched with satisfaction as the wood pile began to grow. In between loads, Xander stepped away from the pit to another pile of dead leaves on the ground behind one of the three metal benches equidistant around the firepit. Grabbing an armful of leaves, Xander returned to the wood pile and tossed the leaves onto it as ready tinder. Finally, when all of the Slayers had finished bringing wood and the bonfire pile had grown to the height of the man's head, Xander pulled out a pocket lighter, and crouching at the edge of the firepit, he flicked his thumb to produce a bright flame from the lighter.

Cheers came from the mob of Slayers around the firepit as Xander set the bonfire alight. As flames began to crackle upwards in the pile of wood, the remaining Slayers came pelting from around the estate, to join their sister-warriors around the fire. Buffy came with Dawn and Willow. Jenny and Giles, having finished their arm-in-arm stroll around the estate and giving each other kisses whenever the mood struck them, now showed up and were promptly escorted to one of the benches, where they sat down and proceeded to kiss again, accompanied by gagging sounds from Xander, Dawn, and Buffy, with Willow looking wistful.

The bonfire was now merrily blazing away, with flames rising twice as high as the pile of wood, and the column of smoke above it as straight and tall as any stone pillar, with the air remaining calm as it had done all day. Completely surrounded by Slayers enjoying the heat of the fire, thoughtful looks were beginning to be directed at the conflagration by the superhuman females, as they all were evidently working out in their heads the height and distance necessary to perform a specific course of action….

Just about to open her mouth to holler "NO!" to forbid anyone from jumping over the bonfire, Buffy was distracted, as were the rest of the Slayers, she was glad to see, by the arrival of the last of her charges. Those Slayers who had gone back to the house with the exercise mats, the pair that had gone shopping with Andrew, and the bikers now all came to the fire, staggering under their loads of food and drink. There were platters piled high with thick sandwiches of all kinds, and Coleman 5-gallon jugs filled with hot mulled cider, all of it whipped up by Andrew in his kitchen.

The Slayers hit the repast like a pack of starving wolves, though even in their hunger they respected the Alpha female and stayed clear of Buffy growling at everyone as she carried the platter given to her over to Giles and Jenny at their bench, to take their pick of the sandwiches. Xander, Dawn, and Willow then made their own choices, leaving Buffy with half of the snacks on the platter, all of which the blonde went on to happily devour.

A quarter hour later, momentarily satiated, the Slayers and humans sipped at their mugs of cider while standing around the bonfire. Beaming around at his family, Xander took another drink, to then scoot a bit closer to the fire as a faint breeze caressed his cheek. A sudden shiver went over the man's body, as he felt a momentarily chill, both from the dropping temperatures and the twinge of apprehension through his link with the dryad. The latter lessened as Xander took a hasty step back from the fire, sending assurances to his companion that he was all right. The man chided himself for making her worry, since he knew full well that untamed fire, as in the burning of trees, was one of the few things that terrified the woods-nymph.

It was only after long persuasion that Xander had convinced the dryad to let the bonfire be made. Finally, the forest sprite grudgingly approved this, but not until the man vowed he would keep an eye on every spark and also that he'd scatter the cold ashes from the fire onto the ground around the living trees, so that they could take nourishment from this.

As he thought this, an abrupt gust of cold wind blew through the clearing, making the flames of the bonfire twist and bend, and sending a spray of sparks high up in the air. The heads of everyone there turned, to look in sudden concern at the line of black clouds rapidly approaching. This advancing weather front quickly hid the sun, turning the surroundings dim and making it even colder.


	4. Chapter 4

Giles and Jenny got up, with the man putting his arm around his love, and rising his voice in clear command, "All right, everyone, it looks like a storm's coming! Collect everything you need to take back to the house, and go along! Quickly, now!"

The Slayers promptly obeyed his orders, with various girls grabbing the platters and empty jugs, to then rush from the clearing towards the house at full speed, yelling at the top of their lungs in both fear and glee in their dash. Soon, only the original Scooby Gang (plus honorary member Jenny) were at the fire. Xander, with worry on his features, turned to Willow, and pleadingly asked, "Wils, can you do something about this?" as he nodded at the bonfire now roaring in the strong breezes and spraying even more sparks throughout the clearing, some of these embers traveling almost all the way to the trees surrounding the open space.

"No prob, Xan," calmly answered his yellow-crayon friend, turning towards the bonfire. Willow held her arms outstretched towards the blaze, her vertical flattened palms held slightly cupped about a foot apart, as if she were grasping an invisible globe or ball. Narrowing her eyes, the witch slowly started bringing her hands together.

Instantly, the bonfire blazed higher, and its red flames became whiter as their temperatures increased due to Willow commanding the fire to devour its fuel much more quickly. None of the party still on the brick walkway and watching this felt any additional heat from the fire because of the magical shield the Wiccan had placed around the conflagration a few seconds ago.

Willow's hands had kept moving together, with the bonfire correspondingly becoming taller and brighter, until a circular pillar of white flame ten yards high and only a foot across was created, causing the Scooby Gang to squint against its light and glance at where the redhead now clasped her hands, and then suddenly jerked them apart.

With the sound of a thunderclap, the pillar of fire promptly snuffed itself out of existence.

"Okay, guys, it's done-- WHUP!" That yelp from Willow was due to Buffy standing next to the witch abruptly grabbing her friend by her waist, with the Slayer's right arm curling around Willow's body to carefully lift that woman off her feet, as the blonde took a quick stride over to Dawn, carrying the Sunnydale native along, with her shoes dangling a few inches above the ground.

Dawn contributed her own yelp with a "YEE!" as Buffy's left arm did the same to her sister, and then the Slayer sprinted towards the house, with her feather-light burdens whooping in delight all during their ride.

Well behind the Slayer were a running Giles and Jenny in their own dash to get to the house before the coming rain, easily seen to be falling black sheets in the sky behind that structure, as the storm rushed headlong towards them. Last of all was Xander, who had paused to check the ashes in the firepit, crouching at the edge of the walkway and carefully testing the top of the cold cinders with the palm of his hand. Once he was certain the fire was completely dead even before the rain fell, the one-eyed man had leapt to his feet, spun around, and started running as fast as he could to the house.

Xander had nearly caught up to the Englishman and the gypsy when all of the sprinters saw a blonde streak dash towards them across the grounds from one of the side porches where Buffy had deposited Dawn and Willow. In a split second, the Slayer had reached the side-by-side lovers and then ran around the pair, to come up from behind, picking Giles and Jenny both up on the fly. A grin was sent over Buffy's shoulder to Xander, as Giles maintained the reputed imperturbility of his fellow countrymen by uttering only a strangled squawk, accompanied by Jenny's giggles. Beginning to accelerate away from Xander, Buffy whooped, "Hang onto your glasses, Giles!"

Much too quickly for a Briton's nerves, the Slayer brought her passengers to the porch, and on somewhat shaky legs, the man and woman did the same as had Dawn and Willow a few seconds earlier and thankfully crossed the threshold into the warm house through the open door, glad to get out of the rapidly-dropping temperatures of the weather front that was going to arrive any second now. Buffy yanked shut the door, and spinning around, she peered through the gloom with her Slayer senses, easily seeing Xander running as fast as he could towards the porch where she was standing. Shifting her weight forward just before another full-speed dash in his direction to pick up her friend, Buffy froze in her tracks when the storm finally hit.

With a loud roar, the heavy rain from the cloudburst above descended, actually blotting out the entire world for a few seconds, until the deluge grudgingly lessened to a mere downpour that still had raindrops bouncing upwards several inches from their impact on the ground.

Fascinated, the former resident of a climate that rarely had this kind of weather watched nearly solid rain falling beyond the porch, and she took a step back at feeling stray drops of icy water being blow into her face. As if this had been a sudden reminder of something she'd forgotten, Buffy Summers then had a very evil gleam appear in her eyes, as she looked through the torrent of falling water at where someone was still slogging their way towards the house.

Raising her cupped hands to her mouth, a gleeful Buffy shouted at the figure in the middle of the downpour. "C'mon, Xander, it's only a few hundred more feet! Lift those knees, you slowpoke! You're running like you dressed up as the turtle in that tortoise and hare story during that Halloween!" Further cries of friendly encouragement were then sent towards the drenched man sloshing nearer to the porch.

Eventually, Xander reached the shelter of the veranda, and at last he got out of the bone-chilling rain, which should've reacted with the current maximum-elevated temperature of the top of that furious man's head by flashing into steam. Standing in the middle of his newly-formed puddle on the porch floor and clenching his fists, the dripping man glared at the smirking Slayer and snarled, "Thanks so much for your advice, Buffster! Why didn't you top it off by throwing rocks at me? You could've helped me along out there like the others, dammit!"

Buffy's impish expression promptly changed to a dainty pout, as the small woman now wrapped her arms around herself, and strongly shivered at that suggestion, as she sniffed, "What, go out there into that rain? Us California gals are delicate flowers who do their best in the bright sun and balmy skies right after Memorial Day. We don't like the cold!"

"I'M from California too!" bellowed Xander, who continued at full volume with, "Besides, you're a Slayer! You could prance along in your bikini in the middle of winter at the South Pole!"

Suddenly looking thoughtful, the woman facing the soaked man answered his bad mood by musing in her best blonde-ditz voice, "Hey, you think there's really a barbershop pole with those diagonal stripes and a big globe on top of it right there at that place?"

"Hnnngggg…." As Xander struggled with his temper, with a growl, the man slapped his right palm against his forehead and then swept his hand down to mop his streaming face. An instant later, Xander snapped his wrist hard towards Buffy, sending a spray of icy water from his fingertips in her direction.

In a blur, the woman nimbly dodged every single drop, to then straighten up and stick out her tongue at the fuming man. Then, adopting a dignified posture, Buffy looked down her nose at her friend, and virtuously said, "If you're going to be so rude, then I'm off to where people will appreciate me, Alexander LaVelle Harris!" Gliding towards the entrance to the house in a regal stride, Buffy opened the door and went in, turning her back to Xander and managing to keep her shoulders from shaking with mirth for at least several steps into the sitting room connected to the outside porch.

A few seconds later, a sullen Xander squomped (a word created at that exact moment to describe stomping with squishing shoes) along after, slamming the door shut after himself, and trying his best to ignore the link he shared in his mind with the dryad, as that millennia-old, small, supernatural creature was presently through the mental contact alternating between scolding her champion over tracking mud into her clean house and then laughing her cute little tushie off.


	5. Chapter 5

An hour later, the entire house glowed brightly from all of its windows now illuminated, shining against the outside gloom of the steady rain still falling. Smoke billowed from every chimney, giving the building the rather contented air of a dozing dragon comfortably curled around its golden hoard and emitting puffs of sleepy steam from its nostrils while dreaming of parboiled knight in the shell.

Walking in the corridor by the kitchen, Dawn was caught by surprise by the small group best described as a strength of Slayers that burst out from that room and streamed past her, with all of the half-dozen girls giggling and clutching handfuls of stolen home-made chocolate chip cookies, as they expertly dodged around the younger Summers sister, pelting away down the corridor while pursued by a pompous bellow of mock outrage from the food preparation area.

"BEGONE, WENCHES! LEAVE ME TO MY CULINARY LABORS!"

It sounded like Andrew was having fun, reflected a smiling Dawn, who kept walking down the corridor, carrying her laden tray. For someone who steadfastedly remained such a dork, the young man in the kitchen currently preparing a magnificent dinner meal of several whole chickens accompanied by corn from their garden roasted in the husk was a clear master of his domain.

The empty mugs on Dawn's tray clinked together, as she abruptly shuddered over what had popped into her mind at linking that catch-phrase with her fellow Sunnydale survivor. Hastily trying to distract herself, the woman pressed the cloth bundle she was holding tucked against the left side of her body, making sure it wasn't going to slip out from under her upper left arm. Satisfied, Dawn continued her steady pace to her destination.

A minute on, Dawn came to the specific spot in the corridor, that to everyone else in the entire house except for her and five others, it would have been only a blank portion of the paneled wall. Keeping her eyes fixed precisely at that location, Dawn once again felt actual pride of possession as this partition area suddenly shimmered, and changed into a dark, unadorned wooden door. Just like it had done months ago, when she'd been the very first one to come across it, astonished at seeing the dryad creating right before her eyes another room of the house.

And once again, the door opened on its own, as it had done back then, while Dawn carried her tray of mugs and a coffeepot that was instead filled to its brim with hot chocolate, as she stepped into the living room of the house at 1630 Revello Drive.

* * *

Five months earlier, a complaining female voice had resounded throughout the corridor.

"Okay, okay, we're here! So what's so important that you had to drag me all the way from the other side of the house without even telling me why? It's not my birthday, so nobody better be jumping out and yelling--"

Dawn hissed to her sister, "Will you just LOOK at it?" and then grabbing Buffy with one hand to make her stop short in the corridor, and pointing with her other hand at where the Slayer was supposed to direct her gaze.

Grumpily shrugging, Buffy for once did as she was told, glowering at the spot. Slowly, her expression changed to nervous concern, as the blonde glanced over at her sister fixedly staring at a blank portion of the corridor wall. Clearing her throat, the older woman mumbled, "Uh, what? It doesn't look like it's been used for target practice, graffiti, or someone trying to kick it down--"

Her slightly-panicked features twisting back and forth from the bare wall to Buffy's worried face, Dawn dazedly stepped closer to the partition, until her sister suddenly grunted "Huh!" in surprise, as both women now stared at the door that had abruptly appeared from thin air on the surface of the wall.

A now-beaming Dawn waved Buffy forward, as a very suspicious look was sent by that woman towards the younger of the siblings in reaction to the door suddenly opening on its own. Buffy again threatened, "Listen, if the first word I hear in there is 'SURPRISE!', I'm gonna stuff a party hat up your nose!"

Ten seconds later, a wild-eyed Buffy stumbled out from the room, to be greeted by Dawn standing in the corridor in a pose of absolute triumph, from her arms proudly folded across her chest to the enormous smirk on that woman's face. Buffy ignored all that, to instead gasp, "Get the others!"

The smile faded from Dawn's face, as she questioned, "Who, exactly?"

"Giles, of course! And Xander, who'd better talk! Willow, too, and….oh," finished Buffy, now frowning as she also considered this.

Dawn nodded, a serious expression on her face. "Yeah, them, but what about Jenny? Even with her being so close to Giles, I'm not so sure. She didn't visit there, did she? Or, would that apply, if she was there in her own….dimension, alternate universe, whatever?"

The sisters traded baffled looks, before Buffy finally shrugged, saying, "Look, let's just get them all here, and see what happens!"

Several hectic minutes later, Dawn closed the door behind themselves, and then she squeezed past the others to stand by Buffy at the front of the small group, as they all stared around at both the heart-wrenching familiarities and the substantial differences of what everyone there remembered about the living room of a certain house at Sunnydale, before it and the rest of the town had collapsed into a huge sinkhole.

Unchanged were the furnishings in the middle of the room, along with the lamps, floors, and ceilings. Most of the sides of the room were the same, with the walls, fireplace, and the front main window in what the mostly-numb people there recognized as being identical to their memories.

However, that panel of glass now looked out on the back garden of the dryad's house, instead of the accustomed California front yard with its lawn, palm tree, hedges, and sidewalk before the quiet Sunnydale street. Also, where the living room at that house formerly had entranceways to the foyer and sitting room, plus other windows in the walls, right now in this room that the group was regarding with dumbfoundment, these spaces were currently filled completely with open, floor-to-ceiling cabinets having shelves in front of the unbroken walls behind these pieces of furniture, all which seemed to be occupied by Summers family photo albums, mementoes, and keepsakes.

Buffy took several trembling steps towards one of the cabinets, her eyes fixed on a particular item resting on its upper shelf. As soon as she got near enough, her arms shot out to grasp and yank towards herself a small, stuffed toy pig that looked rather battered and faded, pulling this into a crushing embrace that had her face buried into the remnants of the pale, pink fuzz that once had entirely covered the little plaything.

"Mr. Gordo," whispered Buffy.


	6. Chapter 6

There were a few moments of disbelieving silence, until Giles cleared his throat to doubtfully ask, "Er, are you quite--?"

"It's him!" fiercely declared Buffy, as she spun around to face the others, brandishing the bedroom companion that had been hers ever since she was a toddler, while the Slayer went on, almost shouting as the words poured from her. "He's even got the stain that Mom could never get out from when Dawn was three and there was that heat wave and she stole him from my room and carried him to the backyard where she used the garden hose to make the biggest mud puddle ever and then she took off all her--"

It was at that instant that the Scooby Gang learned Dawn Summers could teleport.

There was seemingly no other explanation of how that young woman could move so fast, appearing in front of her sister and clapping both hands over Buffy's mouth, right after that snarling into her surprised sibling's stifled face, "If those monks weren't dead already, I'd kill them myself!"

After a few frozen moments, Dawn seemed to comprehend what she'd just done, hastily pulling away her hands from Buffy's mouth, and sheepishly sidling away, to glance at the wide eyes of the quartet regarding the sisters, and hopefully inquiring, "Hey, let's all forget the last two minutes, okay?"

That question was accompanied by Dawn's best beseeching tone, along with a first class puppy-dog-eyes gaze directed at everyone. She might have actually pulled it off, except Dawn went too far with her hesitant smile that was supposed to be remorseful, but which instead just came off as being slightly crazed.

Over the next short period of time, as two pairs of people held onto each other to keep from literally collapsing to the floor during their paroxysms of screaming laughter, Buffy and Dawn Summers could do nothing but trade glum looks, both knowing that sooner or later, the whole story would come out about exactly what had happened back then, even if it hadn't ever actually occurred. Stupid monks.

Finally, while thankfully taking Giles' proffered handkerchief, Jenny dabbed at her eyes, and then gave this back to the Englishman. Trying not to look at the sisterly duo glowering at the recovering quartet, the Romany glanced around the room, marveling how it still seemed to look the same as when she had lived there in her previous life. No….on second thought, that wasn't true. There was a difference, a rather evident one, right over there, up on the wall….

A frown now appearing on her face, Jenny asked in puzzlement while still gazing towards the fireplace, "Buffy, Dawn, was that portrait there in your home? It wasn't when I, um, was there…." Trailing off in her effort on how to phrase the awkward statement, the gypsy nervously looked over at the sisters, who were currently staring at her in shared astonishment.

Buffy was the first to speak, blurting out, "But, but, we thought it was yours! We certainly didn't have it -- do it -- did it…." Now it was the Slayer's turn to close her mouth, as all there faced the conversational chasm that had abruptly opened up.

Over the months that all of them had lived in the dryad's house, Giles, Jenny, Xander, Buffy, Willow, and Dawn had cautiously come to terms with the fact that the Romany woman wasn't the Jenny the others of the group had previously known: the computer teacher at Sunnydale High that had hidden her secret as being one of the Kalderash gypsy tribe that a century ago had cursed the vampire Angelus with a soul, giving him a new name and nature as a guilt-stricken Angel, and when that demon had reverted back to being one of the Scourge of Europe, he'd murdered Janna Kalderash, alias Jenny Calendar.

This Jenny, the one now in the living room that had been destroyed with the rest of Sunnydale in the battle against the First Evil years ago, had come through a magical portal to here from another dimension where things had taken a different course, albeit with equal misfortune. Jenny had survived Angelus, but the same couldn't be said for the other members of the Scooby Gang in her home dimension during that period, and later on. Nobody here, perhaps besides Giles, knew the whole story, but judging from how much it clearly hurt Jenny to talk about it all, there had been immense tragedy and heartbreak.

Willow was the first to end the silence. The redhead had been the most accepting of the new Jenny, probably due to the witch's own encounter years ago with her other-dimension self known as Vamp Willow. Thoughtfully, she mused, "Buffy, Dawn, maybe that painting didn't come along when you moved to Sunnydale, or it wasn't put there, on that wall. Your dad might have taken it, or maybe your mom kept it in storage, or there's just some other reason--"

"No way!" declared Buffy, finally managing to interrupt Willow's babble, with Dawn nodding firmly in agreement, as the older sister went on. "There's a big problem with all that, Wils, and it's this: we never had ourselves painted in the first place. Not ever, and even with our weird memories, we'd have remembered doing it. Especially with Mom there in that painting."


	7. Chapter 7

As one, every member of the Scooby Gang stepped forward to stand in front of the fireplace and stare at the large, formal portrait of Joyce Summers, Elizabeth Anne Summers, and Dawn Marie Summers. A grown-up woman with two adolescents were seated together on a chaise lounge, in their best dresses, jewelry, and hairstyles. Plainly, it was depicting a family group at their ease, with a loving mother and her cherished daughters, showing Joyce in the middle and Buffy and Dawn close at her sides, with all three happily clasping hands, delightedly looking out at their audience, and also joyously aware of each other.

In the living room, still holding Mr. Gordo in her right arm, Buffy unconsciously reached out with her other arm to Dawn at her left side, pulling her in a close hug, as her younger sister put her head on the Slayer's shoulder, while they continued staring at the painting. The other pairs also moved closer to each other, their eyes prickling with sorrow, as Xander, Willow, Giles, and Jenny shifted their own attention from the two sisters before them holding each other, and back to the portrait where the Summers kin remained in a rare moment of contentment.

Naturally, Xander was the first to speak, in a gruff voice that barely held melancholy under control as he tried to break the mood, "Hey, guys, we got an actual historic painting here, showing the last time Buffy Summers had her original hair color-- OW!"

Without taking her eyes off the portrait, Buffy had snapped out her right hand holding Mr. Gordo to whack the back of Xander's head with the stuffed toy. An instant later, simultaneous muffled snorts of choked mirth came from both of the Summers sister, indicating that the man now rubbing the rear of his skull had indeed managed to change the charged atmosphere of the living room. Faintly smiling, Buffy and Dawn looked at the others, as these people shifted into more relaxed postures.

Rupert Giles cleared his throat, and mused, "Er, Buffy, that may be a clue regarding the painting. When exactly was the tint of your hair changed?"

Buffy looked thoughtful, and then answered vaguely, "Um….middle of junior high, I think."

"Oh, yeah?" Dawn joined in, a wicked glint in her eye, as the young woman realized she knew just as many embarrassing stories about Buffy as her older sister knew about Dawn. "What I remember, you came back from a junior cheer sleepover with your hair bright daffodil yellow, with the excuse that everyone decided to become blonde and you had to join in. I thought Mom was gonna explode, but she just laughed, and said it was up to you if you wanted to keep it, and she'd take you to the hairdressers' to get it changed back or toned down."

Dawn just smirked at receiving Buffy's furious glower over revealing family secrets that had the others chuckling. Then, Dawn stepped towards the fireplace, peering more closely at the painting. Specifically, her own image represented there, as that Summers sister spoke again. "Guys, I do look like I would have been around then. Maybe….seven, eight years old?"

Jenny, having the most experience of the group with children at that age, with her life growing up in the Kalderash clan and knowing the younger generation of that tribe, nodded in agreement, but then suggested, "Is there some kind of signature on the painting, by the artist?"

Their interest sharpening at that, the rest of the group moved forward to join with Dawn, with everyone intently examining the bottom and sides of the painting for any identification marks or names. However, nobody found anything, as they all glanced at each other, shrugging in shared bafflement. Buffy, clearly having come to a decision, now spoke firmly, eyeing Xander as if this was somehow his fault, "Xan, there's a certain person who might know a thing or two about what's going on. Not just that painting, but this whole room, not to mention Mr. Gordo!" At that last word, the Slayer lifted her stuffed pig that years ago had been lost at the end of the battle against the First Evil and now was somehow once more in Buffy's possession, to shake it under Xander's nose.

Looking resigned, Xander just nodded, adding, "Yeah, yeah, Buffster, I got it. I'll tell the dryad we need to see her -- we're all coming?" At that, the man looked around, receiving confirming nods from everyone else, and then continuing. "I guess there's no time like the present. Let's go, unless anybody needs to make a pit stop." Wry smiles came from the group at that, as they headed for the door from the room.

Giles and Jenny left first, stepping out into the empty corridor, with Dawn and Buffy about to join them, as Willow and Xander followed. That normal action was abruptly interrupted the moment Buffy stepped over the threshold and then suddenly shrieked, "MR. GORDO!"

Everyone else promptly stared at the young woman frantically patting herself with empty hands and then for some reason gaping downwards at the bottom of the bare entranceway where she'd abruptly halted. A look of horror appearing on Buffy's face, this woman now whirled around to face her former Sunnydale High friends, staring past them into the living room. Xander and Willow also turned around in alarm, following the line of Buffy's gaze at where she was looking at one of the cabinets, where just a few minutes ago she'd reclaimed her stuffed toy. Which was now back in the cabinet, as if it had never left.

Buffy dashed back into the living room, almost knocking over both Xander and Willow in her rush, except that these people had known the Slayer long enough to react fast enough to get out of her way, quickly stepping out of her path that ended right in front of the cabinet. Buffy grabbed Mr. Gordo and gave him a relieved hug that lasted long enough for Giles now sharing the doorway with Jenny to hesitantly ask, "Did that….toy put itself back there?"

"I dunno!" mumbled Buffy in the middle of strongly kissing her playmate on his snout. "He just vanished right out of my hands when I was leaving."

"Well, maybe we should try it again," suggested Willow, a fascinated look on her face. "Buffy, hold him up in your hands when you leave, and let's watch."

A bit reluctantly, Buffy turned and headed to the door again, nervously caressing her stuffed pig, and pausing right in front of the doorway, as the others waited. Finally, the Slayer gulped, and took the last step, as the observers kept their intent gazes upon what she was carrying. The instant this toy passed over the doorsill, it once again disappeared, leaving Buffy's hands totally empty. As one, all of their heads turned to look at the cabinet, where Mr. Gordo again rested in its plush position.

A clearly annoyed gleam in her eye, Buffy stalked back towards the cabinet, as Xander looked around the living room, evidently considering the situation. Before anyone else could come up with the idea, that young man suggested, "Let's see if it works with anything else here."

Over the next few minutes, as Buffy ignored the others while hugging her toy and reassuring it in a low, murmuring voice, numerous tries were made in carrying various objects out of the room, with all of these ending in failure and the reappearance of the carried items back into their original positions. The final attempt, with Xander and Giles picking up an armchair and hauling it over to the doorway ended with Jenny and Willow having to grab the men when they almost crashed to the floor, losing their balance when that piece of furniture vanished from their grips. Wiping his hand across his forehead, Giles shrugged in bemusement, and called, "Buffy, we really do need to talk to the dryad about this. Put down that toy, and we'll be off."

A world-class pout promptly appeared on that addressed woman's face, until she looked at her fuzzy friend right in its black fabric eyes and addressed it in a tone a bit louder than she'd intended. "Listen, Mr. Gordo, Mommy has to go, but she'll be back. I promise! Now, you be a good little piggy, and I'll read Charlotte's Web to you again when we're together. You're such a good boy, yes, you are!" At that, Buffy carefully placed the stuffed toy onto the cabinet shelf, giving it a last gentle pat, and then turned to walk back to the door with the others who'd been watching her all this time, with everyone currently having seriously suffused faces as they struggled to keep themselves under control and not burst into laughter.

Pausing at the doorway, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the monsters' nightmare, a true heroine, snarled at them all.

"What?!"


	8. Chapter 8

"Present."

Sitting cross-legged on the lawn of the dryad's glade, Xander Harris scratched his head above his eye patch, his brow wrinkling as he thought on how to continue. Speaking again, the man tried out the following words: "Gift -- yeah, that's better. Um. Bequest? Kinda, maybe. Reward, okay. Nah, offering doesn't work." Shrugging, Xander looked around the close circle of others also seated on the lawn, as he admitted, "Guys, that's the best I can do. I'm not sure if I just don't understand her, or if she's not telling me the right way."

Giles finished polishing his glasses with his handkerchief, and then perched these lenses back onto the bridge of his nose, as he commented, "Xander, she's a non-human being at least several thousand years old, probably more. I don't hold it against you that it'll certainly take time for you to comprehend her, or that there may be parts of what she knows that you'll never understand."

Jenny, seated next to Giles, smiled and put her arm around the pleased man, as she murmured, "English, right now, it's enough that those two understand." She nodded her head towards at what she was talking about.

Buffy and Dawn were also on the ground tailor-fashion together, with their arms around each other, as both looked down at the dryad standing with her legs stretched wide and with her little feet on top of the women's crossed legs, as the woods-nymph leaned forward into their adjacent torsos, her arms lifted up for her tiny hands to gently pat the tear-streaming cheeks of the women's faces.

Willow sighed in deep contentment, as she leaned against Xander next to her, and felt his arm come around her shoulders. As they watched their friends being comforted by the forest sprite, Willow had a thought come into her mind, and quietly expressed it. "Xander, it wasn't just for them, right? It was for all of us here, because, well, it, the house, it was ours too, back in Sunnydale. Our….home."

"Got it in one, Wils," murmured Xander. "Even though we didn't live there, not like them, we were there often enough, to think it was our place, where we'd always be welcome. Sure as hell not like our damn supposed homes in our town." The savage hiss in his voice expressed the one-eyed man's bitterness well enough, though when Xander continued, it was in a somewhat lighter tone. "That's kinda like Jenny and the G-man, too. In their own ways, they felt they had a home there, though they didn't visit all that much, not like us."

"Mmmm." Willow leaned her head on her friend's shoulder. "Does.…that apply to anyone else, who was there at the Summers house?"

"Nope. That I got right off from little miss. It's just for us here who survived. Not even Andrew qualifies. You gotta admit, being kidnapped and sharing a basement with a vampire, and then having to live with twenty girls and two bathrooms in the middle of a war doesn't exactly make someone feel at home." Both Xander and Willow sniggered over that, with the man going on. "That's part of the magic. Only us guys can find and go into that room, and we won't ever be noticed or seen doing it."

Having listened to all this, Giles spoke from his seated position, "Does that apply to the contents of that room, with these also being magical?"

"I think so. They're all part of that room, connected to it, so they can't be taken outside. Sorry, Buffy."

Those last words had been directed at the Slayer, who acknowledged these by an accepting wave of her hand after brushing away her tears, with Buffy then smiling thankfully at the dryad, who'd stepped back, still balancing on the Summers sisters' legs, looking up at the two women's faces, and flashing a merry grin at them. Then, the dryad leapt backwards high in the air, spinning around, with the skirt of her cherished new clothing flaring out, until the sprite dropped lightly onto the ground and then sprinted right at Xander.

Despite being in her child-size fleece Slanky with the image on its front of a perky Tinker Bell waving her wand, the dryad managed a good turn of speed and also had no trouble swarming up Xander's back, accompanied by the man's grimaces as she used her tiny fingernails for gripping, until she was triumphantly perched on his shoulders, her skinny legs wrapped around his throat. The sleeved blanket the man had given the little nymph last ChrisHannukzaa was bunched up behind his neck, as the dryad hugged Xander's head, and then proceeded to cheerfully pound her fists numerous times on top of his skull.

Muffled giggles came from all the women there at seeing Xander's patient face over this, especially when the dryad peered over her champion's head and smirked at them all. Buffy managed to end her chuckles to ask the question she still wondered about, "Um, Xan, could you ask her about the painting? I still can't remember anything about it."

Xander carefully tilted his head back, with the dryad leaning forward, until they were looking each other in the face, though they didn't appear to care that they would seem to be upside-down to the other. After a few seconds of intent gaze among themselves, the pair shifted back to their original positions, and Xander then apologetically shrugged, glancing at the Summers sisters eagerly awaiting his answer. "Sorry, Buffy, Dawn. She just repeated what she told me before: present, gift, bequest, reward. It didn't seem to be any clearer, though."

Dawn sighed at that, followed by her sister, with the pair seemingly accepting this. The young woman glanced over at where Giles and Jenny were holding hands and looking on with interest. Clearing her throat, Dawn spoke to Jenny, "Could….it still have come from your dimension? Wils might have gotten it right, in saying it was made there, but it wasn't put in the living room when the….other Summers family moved to Sunnydale. Maybe it was just in storage in that house."

In a way, this theory was a guarded acknowledgement that Jenny Calendar had been an important part of the Slayer's family in her own dimension, up to somehow being that other-Dawn's mother in a truly weird way involving the Key. This dimension's Dawn now sitting on the dryad's lawn had, over the years, come to terms with who and what she was, if only because the Key had no other choice, but she still found it seriously freaky in considering the relationship between her other self and the older woman currently with Giles' arm around her and looking at Dawn with cautious wonder and delight.

While Giles gave his lover an encouraging squeeze with his arm, Jenny smiled at Dawn, and with a slight catch in her voice over Dawn's careful acceptance of herself, the Romany spoke to them all, "I suppose that's the best answer we'll ever have. So….is there anything else? I don't know about you, but I need to get back to the house."

Gazing around, all there found each other nodding in agreement, though Xander looked a little thoughtful, and interjected, "You guys go on. I need to talk to little miss about something else, okay?"

His tone was a bit firm, leaving the others wondering about this, but willing to accept it. Giles, Willow, Jenny, and Dawn got to their feet, while Buffy started to do the same, but instead sank down again, this time resting on her knees. As the others looked in surprise at the kneeling Slayer, she waved Dawn to do the same besides her. Puzzled, the younger Summers sister did so, as Buffy eyed the dryad still perched on Xander's shoulders, and opened her mouth to say something to this forest sprite.

Instead, the dryad let go of Xander and slid down his back, trotting from around him towards the pair of young women, until the little being was standing in front of the Slayer, holding up the edge of the skirt of her Slanky a little nervously, as the dryad met the Sunnydale survivor's eyes. The pair of supernatural creatures stared at each other for a few moments, until Buffy leaned forward, and gently embraced the dryad, whispering into the tiny left ear of the nymph, "Thank you so much for such a loving gift." Then, Buffy tenderly kissed the dryad right in the middle of her forehead.

Letting go of the blissful dryad, Buffy scooted on her knees to the right, as Dawn moved to where the Slayer had been, to also warmly hug and kiss the forest sprite and passing along her most sincere thanks. Finally, Dawn let go, and got to her feet, accompanied by her sister, as the euphoric dryad stood there for a moment, until plopping down onto her tiny behind and wrapping her arms around her fleece-covered self in absolute joy.

All with smiles on their faces, everyone now took their departure, waving goodbye behind themselves, as an also-smiling Xander watched them go off and disappear back to the house. Giving himself a shake, the man gazed at the giggling entity now lying on her back, engulfed by a cloth embroidered with the image of a Disney fairy character. Eventually, Xander cleared his throat to get her attention. Tilting her head to look at Xander, the dryad rolled over and got up, skipping back towards the man, until she stood before him, again holding up the bottom edge of her Slanky.

"I'd like to talk--"

Interrupting him, the dryad shook the lower part of her blanket, as if in directing his attention to what was stitched there.

Rolling his remaining eye in exasperation, Xander pointed out, "You're here, so I DO believe in you."

The blanket was firmly shaken again, this time accompanied by a no-nonsense stomp of a tiny foot and an absolutely adorable pout.

Resignedly, Xander clapped his hands several times, which produced a gleeful smile from the dryad towards her not-very-bright champion, as she dropped her blanket in complete satisfaction, and then looked expectantly at the former Sunnydale resident.

Xander just looked thoughtfully back at the dryad, and apropos of nothing, he mused, "I wonder if either of them will ever figure out what today is."

The dryad's face suddenly became blank.

"Yeah, 'cause I'm the one who had to remind the baby Slayers to make the phone calls and send the cards and flowers." Xander blinked, and then glowered at the little being. "I sent her one, too!"

An intent expression now formed on the features of someone who could outstare a houseful of cats.

"Right, so it might have been a little insensitive to write on it, 'Leave the jerk,' but you know why!"

The stare now increased to well past the intensity of the entire feline occupants of a truly crazy cat lady's abode being occupied with a minimum of three-figures-total of her pets.

"Okay, I promise, I'll send her a bouquet of roses later!"

At that, a slow, triumphant blink was made, with the dryad's face now becoming absolutely smug. Then, she stepped towards Xander, holding out her arms, to be gathered up in his embrace, as he fondly kissed her cheek, and whispered into her pointed right ear, "I've still got my suspicions about that painting and everything else, but since you're clearly not gonna talk…. Well, thanks for such a wonderful Mother's Day present for my girls."


	9. Chapter 9

Five months later, in the middle of October, Dawn Summers finished her step over the threshold of the living room of her former home. Carrying over her tray to one of the small tables in that room, the young woman relaxed her left arm, and allowed her burden there to drop onto the floor, with merely a soft thud as that cloth bundle fell and gently bounced. Ignoring this, Dawn then poured the pot of hot chocolate into the mugs also on the tray, and added tiny marshmallows from a small bag into the mugs.

Once this was done, Dawn picked up the filled mugs and made several trips to give them to their proper owners. Smiles and soft thank-yous came from Giles, Jenny, Xander, and Willow, with these people sipping their yummy drinks as they watched Dawn take the last two mugs over to the heaping pile of blankets, afghans, quilts, and cushions that made a large mound in the middle of the room in front of the crackling fireplace. Bending down, Dawn put the mugs on the floor with a clinking sound coming from her action.

Taking a few steps away from the mugs, Dawn now stood in front of the mound, facing the others in their seats, with Giles in an armchair and Jenny in his lap, while Willow was seated upright on the sofa at the far left position and Xander was lying on his back on the remainder of the sofa, with his head in the redhead's lap. All of these now had their amused attention upon Dawn as that young woman held out her arms horizontally, and then allowed herself to topple backwards, right onto the pile of bedding and pillows.

An evil smirk on her face, Dawn bounced a few times after landing, with the last bounce producing a strange, muffled "Oooof!" sound from somewhere deep inside the mound. Right after that, a feminine growl also came from there: "Get off me, Sasquatch!"

Lying contently on her back, Dawn wiggled herself deeper into the pile, and looking up at the ceiling while savoring the snickers of the others in their chairs, she calmly answered, "Make me, Munchkin."

"Lumberjack."

"Shrimp."

"Extra marshmallows in mine?"

"Like always."

At that last comment from Dawn, the bedding pile heaved, sending that Summers sister bouncing up and away, landing on the edge of the bedding pile the other side from where the two mugs of hot chocolate rested on the floor. Glancing over, a giggling Dawn saw blankets sliding off whatever was arising there, until Buffy Summers was now revealed, standing on her feet. Revealed, and eagerly searching for hot chocolate, with serious bed hair, and holding Mr. Gordo in the crook of her left elbow.

Buffy, ignoring the mock cheers coming from Willow and Xander lifting high their own mugs in sardonic salute to her, bent over and grabbed the left mug on the floor, straightening up and bringing her drink to her lips, as she swallowed a good half of the nectar of the gods in just one gulp. "Aaaaahhh!" she sighed, absently wiggling her body to straighten out her Slanky that now fell straight down her form to the floor.

Back when Xander had found and bought for the dryad her winter festival gift of a child's sleeved blanket of soft fleece, that man also decided to get more, larger-sized Slankys for the others, correctly figuring that the California-born majority of the Scooby Gang had no experience with real winters and would be really, really grateful for the comfort of a warm, body-length blanket with sleeves. Of course, being Xander Harris, he put his own special touch on the gifts for his family.

That man started off by making a lengthy search through the Internet, all while devotedly hoping Willow wouldn't wonder what he was doing so long on the computer and hack into his files. It would have been so completely embarrassing to have to explain why he wasn't looking for porn, but instead something much more shocking.

To wit, embroidery and needlework.

Finally, Xander found a certain master artist in the above handicrafts who was highly amused by his request, and amiably agreed to create what the man wanted. For a price, of course. Still, when the work was finished, Xander had delightedly regarded the results of what had been done to several plain, sleeved blankets formerly consisting of solid colors of fleece that had now been turned into customized clothing, and he knew it had been worth every penny. Plus, on that Christmas morning, every overjoyed expression by the recipients of his presents made it truly worthwhile. Along with his family continuing to wear their Slankys whenever they could, like now.

Buffy Summers, as she stood in the middle of her mound of bedding she'd made into her lair and drank from her mug of hot chocolate, wore a sleeved blanket of golden color, laid over with an image of the DC comics character Wonder Woman that covered the entire front of the blanket. This majestic superheroine was posing in a triumphant stance, facing the viewer, black hair billowing to the rear from an unseen breeze, beautiful face proud and joyous, her voluptuous body in that woman's famous colorful costume from tiara to red boots, with her golden lasso attached to her hip, and toned arms with their famous bracelets, as Wonder Woman grasped with these the staff of a fluttering American flag, and had perched on her other upraised arm a fierce bald eagle, wings proudly displayed.

At the very bottom of the blanket were embroidered in real gold thread the words: Bullets and Bracelets Forever!

Buffy brought down her mug and fondly eyed Xander drinking from his own glass, as that man laid sprawled on the sofa in his own Slanky. Pure blue, with another DC comics character over the front also, a Neal Adams Batman with his endless cape flowing behind the defender of the innocent, the son of Martha and Thomas Wayne sternly stared through the white slits of his cowl (the artist had to work overtime on the expression, since she received from her client the urgent demand of "NO brooding!"). Still, under a full moon, the mortal hero stood watchful in front of a cityscape he was clearly guarding, while at the bottom of this were the words in a black, spiky, Gothic script: Protecting Gotham City Since 1939.

A witch looked equally fondly down at the man resting his head onto the lap of that woman's Slanky. This was pure white, with only two more shades over the entire blanket. Black thread cunningly outlined and showed the features of at least a dozen women, all having the faces of famous Hollywood actresses in their iconic roles and poses: Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, Marilyn Monroe in a close-up with her sultry smile and the mole on her left lower cheek, Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia, and so many more. Yet, there was one single thing these shown images of renowned females had in common: all now had red hair, in different hues of thread for each and every one, strands colored in copper, coral, crimson, russet, cherry, and numerous others both envied and yearned for worldwide.

Willow Rosenberg idly shifted her legs in her chair, with this now showing the scarlet words at the bottom of her robe: Redheads Are Hot.

As he finished his drink and leaned over to put his empty mug on the table next to him in his armchair, Rupert Giles exposed his khaki Slanky with its exquisite needlework showing a dead-on Sidney Paget illustration of a life-size Sherlock Holmes head shot. Keen eyes blazing with intelligence, this celebrated detective was regarding those watching him with both fondness and impatience, as he articulated the line shown at the bottom of the Englishman's man's clothing: You Know My Methods, Watson.

In his lap, Jenny Calendar handed her lover her own empty mug, and as he also put this on the table, she bent her head to kiss Giles on his forehead, leaving behind a very pleased man as the woman pulled back, revealing on her own royal purple Slanky another Sidney Paget illustration of a Victorian figure walking down a sidewalk in a long coat and a bowler hat, in male clothing yet with her turned head clearly displaying a beautiful woman's face, as she uttered the words that were also shown below: Good-Night, Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

During all this, Dawn had scooted over on her hands and knees to sit cross-legged on the floor next to Buffy, as she drained her own mug of hot chocolate. Once she'd finished, Dawn got up, and accepted her sister's empty mug. Walking over to the Sunnydale natives, the young woman took the pair of mugs Xander and Willow handed her, and stepped to the table where she'd put the tray. Placing all four mugs onto this serving platter, Dawn now bent down and picked up the cloth bundle she'd also brought into the living room. With a few quick wriggles, Dawn got into her own Slanky, and headed back to the middle of the room, affectionately patting Xander's right foot as she passed by the sofa.

Willow kept her eyes firmly squeezed shut as Dawn went by the witch's seat. Only when Willow heard Dawn dropping into the pile of blankets and other cushions did the witch warily open her eyes, to then glower at where the young woman was now curled up with her sister in the mound, both shifting their bodies to find the most comfortable spot among the heaped bedding. In the middle of this, Dawn caught Willow's eye, and smirked at how uneasily the redhead was regarding the Slanky the youngest Summers sister was wearing.

Kermit the Frog smiled from the blanket, with this image of a cheerful amphibian in bright lime over an olive background, and in emerald thread, the embroidered words glittered at the bottom of Dawn's robe: I Am Green, And It'll Do Fine.


	10. Chapter 10

For the next few minutes, there was quiet in the room, as all there stared out the front window into the steady October rain. Then came idle conversation among the Scoobies, including when dinner would be ready, how to adjust the training schedule for indoors if the bad weather continued, and other trivial topics. Willow had been mostly quiet, trying not to look at her worst fear that Dawn seemed to aiming directly at her during that young woman's sprawl among the bedding. In an effort to distract herself, Willow glanced around the room, to finally spot something on another Summers sister that sparked a question in the witch's mind.

Breaking the momentarily silence that had been maintained for several moments, Willow called, "Buffy, that eagle on your Wonder Woman robe reminds me of something. Did you ever find out just what kind of eagle your avatar appears in the tree at the dryad's glade?"

"Huh?" blinked Buffy, looking down at her Slanky, and frowning at the representation of that avian there. "Come to think of it, I never got around to it. It's not like this one, right?"

"That's a bald eagle," commented Giles. The Englishman looked puzzled, continuing, "I believe I once had a theory, but I can't recall it offhand. Did anyone else check?" With those words, Giles looked around the room, receiving headshakes and shrugs from the rest of those there.

Lounging on the floor, Dawn suggested, "How 'bout we check it later--"

//Thump.//

Buffy was instantly at her feet, at the others' heads turned in alarm at that unexpected soft noise coming from the back of the room, at where one of the new cabinets that covered up a former window of the old Sunnydale house was located. Gliding forwards and ready for action, Buffy stalked to where the sound had originated from. The others remained motionless, not sure if they should be doing anything but to watch Buffy, as this woman reached the cabinet, to stand in front of it for a moment and then bending down.

A worried Dawn was sitting up, and the others in their seats now saw Buffy straighten up, with something in her hand, to stand there for a few seconds until she turned around, a look of absolute bewilderment on her face, as she announced, "A book fell on the floor from the bottom shelf." Indeed, Buffy now waved her right hand, showing everyone there a small volume with a bright cover that was too far for anyone to see what was presented there.

The others relaxed a little, with Giles the first to ask, "Just what kind--"

"It says, 'Birds of the World.' Oh, and I'm damn certain we didn't have that book in our house back in Sunnydale." Buffy sent a serious fish-eye towards Xander on the sofa having lifted himself up and twisted his neck to peer at Buffy.

A startled look passed over that man's face, that rapidly changed to humor, as he chuckled, "I didn't get anything from her, but it's her house, so I guess she's just being polite. Why don't you bring it over, and let's look at it?" Still chuckling, Xander laid himself back down into Willow's lap, as that woman also giggled in relief.

"Humf," snorted Buffy, as she stepped over to Giles. When she got close enough, the Slayer thrust the volume towards the man also turned in his chair, regarding his former charge with a hint of amusement, this sentiment also shared by Jenny in his lap. This resulted in Buffy glowering at the pair, and still holding the book, she grumped, "Well, Watcher mine, how about you doing a little work?"

Also beginning to chuckle, Giles took the book, and turning around in his chair, he examined it with interest. It was a fairly old book, with the title as passed on by Buffy showing itself in the middle of the paper cover and surrounded by a quartet of various birds caught in color photographs in the dated style of just after World War II. Absently noting that Buffy had come up behind his chair and was now peering over his shoulder, Giles glanced up at Jenny looking down at the book with equal interest. Clearing his throat, the man opened the book and rapidly flipped through the pages, all with more color photographs of birds and written information about these creatures given under the pictures.

Now beginning to be caught up in the search, Giles muttered, "Let's see, all the avatars seem to be based on European species in the main, though some are world-wide, so….Europe, raptors--"

"HAH!" Nobody was surprised at that triumphant bark from the Slayer, as Buffy's finger blurred from her side to pointing at a specific page in the book where Giles had stopped. She blurted, "Yeah, that's it!"

Those not near the book craned their necks to unsuccessfully see what the others were staring at, with Xander cheerfully calling out, "Hey, G-man, say it loud and say it proud!"

A glare was sent toward the unabashed younger man by Giles, who now sighed, "Well, if you must know…. Ahem. The golden eagle, Aquila chrysaetos, present in Eurasia, North America, and parts of Africa. So called due to its striking golden-buff crown and nape--"

Everyone's attention was then attracted by Buffy's most unusual behavior then, starting off with a truly gloating cackle, accompanied by her hopping up and down in place with glee, as that woman thrust her hands up the side of her head, and then straight back horizontally, causing her long hair to billow out in golden waves. It all finished with Buffy clapping her hands and doing her version of the Snoopy Dance, all while sticking out her tongue at everyone else in the room.

Dawn dryly commented at that point, "It's nice to see her taking this with so calmly and gracefully, guys."

"Yes, indeed," acerbically added Giles, as Buffy went off skipping among the room, to then start swooping around in clear imitation of her avatar, flapping her arms as she went past Dawn hastily pulling in her legs.

Willow just rolled her eyes, and trying to hurry things along over Buffy's capering, she asked, "Is there anything else, Giles? Like, say, it eats….frogs." The witch hissed out that last word, eyes gleaming with pretended malice directed at Dawn. Who promptly stuck out her own tongue at Willow.

Giles just harrumphed, quite used to all this. Over Xander's snickering and Jenny's giggling, the Englishman determinedly went on, glancing at the book again and reading, "Ah, the golden eagle was the model for the aquila, the standard of the Roman legions. During the Middle Ages, it was considered a truly majestic bird and such an obvious symbol of authority and royalty that only kings and emperors were allowed to fly that bird during falconry, with even wolves being hunted down and taken by the golden eagle."

Dead silence.

Alarmed, Giles and Jenny looked up, to see all the others frozen motionless. No, not quite, Giles mentally corrected himself. In the center of the room, Buffy Summers now stood stock-still, with an enormously smug expression slowly appearing on her face, and her chest beginning to swell in utter conceit.

In a voice of absolute doom, Xander Harris reproved the appalled older man, "Giles, why in the name of God did you tell us that? You should have known she's gonna be insufferable about that for WEEKS!" After bellowing that last word, Xander fell back with a moan of agony into Willow's lap, as the redhead dropped her face into her hands, whimpering.

A look of true resolve now appeared on Dawn's face, as she shifted up to onto her knees, and then into a crouching position that culminated in diving forward towards Buffy's ankles, and as she promptly clenched her hands around those parts of her sister's body, yanking hard, Dawn shrieked, "TICKLE ATTACK, GUYS!"

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who had unflinchingly withstood earth-shattering hits from hellgoddesses, master vampires, and cyborg monsters, abruptly went down like a toppled tree.

Knowing from past experience that they had only precious seconds in which to act, Xander and Willow scrambled up from the sofa, and then also dived onto the Summers sisters.

As shrieks of glee, howls of triumph at counting coup, and unheeded protests of "Not under the short ribs!" came from the Scooby pile, Rupert Giles heaved a sigh, closed his book and carefully placed it on the table by the side of the armchair, and then he proceeded to kiss the dickens out of his woman.

That man became rather aggrieved a minute later, which might explain his actions then. Still, as he broke away from embracing Jenny to balefully stare at Buffy stomping towards him on her knees, casually dragging Dawn, Willow, and Xander hanging on like grim death to the Slayer, who protested to her Watcher, "Hey! Aren't you going to be such a fuddy-duddy English dude and tell them to knock this off?"

Giles thoughtfully considered the young woman in front of him for, oh, maybe a second or two, and then he leaned forward, thrust out his right arm with a stiff, extended index finger to press against the middle of Buffy's forehead, and pushed hard, while at the same time saying calmly, "No."

As Buffy fell back into the others' grasp with a scream of "TRAITOR!", the cold rain continued to fall outside, while indoors in the house of the dryad, it was warm and filled with family taking joy in each other, and unnoticed by all in a very special room, a painting had the lips of Joyce Summers widen just a fraction.

It had been a good day.


End file.
